Monday, July 7, 2014

Post Tower Renders!

Let's start the week off right with a sneak peak at what a future residential tower in Downtown San Jose could look like. This one is at the corner of Post Street and San Pedro, tucked away near the gold building.

I have to say that I really like the design. It is more unique than most of the high-rises in Downtown right now and has some modern character to it. What do you guys think?

Overall, this looks to be an exciting design. The massing is nicely balanced and yet different enough to create some contrast. In the end, the success of the design will likely depend on the quality of the materials used. If they are able to create an appearance of depth, texture, and visual interest, it could be one of the more striking buildings on the northern side of downtown. The night rendering looks fantastic in that regard. The day shots do look a little flat on the south- and southwest-facing angles.

It's a small lot so there is no room for outdoor space as suggested. Although, if you look closely there is a rooftop mini-park for residence on the lower portion. This is a great addition to downtown because it takes a small lot with nothing on it and turns it into something. The building is not highly visible because it is tucked in the back of another tower to the north. The architecture is fine for this type of site.

Just be glad 'cuz this bldg. is a 2-fur, as in 2-fur-one. The developer bought the tower to the north facing Santa Clara St. a couple years ago. In the back was a small 1/2 acre lot-this lot. This was bonus land attached to the property. It looks like they now managed to put together a 21-story bldg. to go on top of it. It was a smart play on their part and I hope they have a successful project. This will add more critical mass to DTSJ. It desperately needs it.

If you look closely, you can see that the top two floors have balconies. Looks like there are no swimming pools. There's a small terrace on the east-side of the 18th floor and a large terrace on the east-side of the 4th floor.

I like the fencing details surrounding the large terrace and the north-west side of the building. Hopefully the "fences" do not look tacky once they put them up.

It does look like an office building from afar, but once you get closer there are some really neat little details. I'm good with this design, especially for such a small lot. I'm glad they got rid of the swimming pool, hopefully they (with permission from the City) can also scale down the number of parking spaces and have built in bike lockers instead.

Common guys. Ask yourselves: Will this lead to tourists or visitors to remember San Jose in any significant way? Or is it just like any other building that gets blended into the skyline like every other rectangular building that San Jose already has plenty of? Why can we not have a higher standard for architecture? When we don't hold the city to higher standards, we'll never get it. Sorry, but this design is not very good, and does not distinguish itself from the other buildings surrounding it and does nothing to inspire. Just my humble two cents.

1) Developers aren't responsible for driving tourism in a city or inspiring awe/admiration.2) The downtown market hasn't proven itself, so developers aren't going to risk millions of dollars on starchitects or elaborate (read: costly) designs. Right now they are providing what the market wants and what it will bear.

If you were so interested in the design of new developments, then go the Architectural Reviews, Community Meetings, etc. that are held for each project. Every point you made about creating "iconic" architecture was brought up (by the reps of the Downtown Association) -- yet the above caveats still hold true.